Mar. 17, 2018
07:19 am JST

Mar. 17, 2018
07:21 am JST

We will work to make sure this never happens again and to regain trust.

I dont think there was ever a more repetitive , meaningless quote that came from the upper levels of LDP government in this country ( especially the current one ) . This has been parroted ad nausea without any concrete action whatsoever on so many occasions its not funny. Wanna regain a little trust?....then start by the blue blood arrogance personified poster boy Aso resigning for overseeing this farse by his ministry instead of by trying to hang on and giving J-public the finger.

Mar. 17, 2018
07:34 am JST

"An official from the local finance bureau that oversaw the transaction was found dead at his home in Kobe last week. Now it has been revealed the man, aged in his 50s, left a detailed suicide note stating he was worried he might be forced to take all the blame.

He said his superiors had told him to change the background section of the official documents surrounding the Osaka land sale because they were supposedly too specific, according to public broadcaster NHK. He reportedly made it clear that he did not act alone but in line with finance ministry instructions."

The responsibility for lies at the door of Kagoike and all those who supprted him, right the way up to Abe and his wife. They are responsible for this man's death. Have they no shame? How can Abe, Aso and Slush Fund Suga possibly remain in office now? Japan is a disaster zone under the LDP, sinking like a stone.

Mar. 17, 2018
08:40 am JST

Mar. 17, 2018
08:44 am JST

Let's hope the next one actually represents the majority, rather than an old boy network!

When has there ever been a PM in this country that represents the "majority"? Wait one, a few exceptions, the LDP, because they ARE the majority!

The majority of the people in this country support the LDP, the people trust in the government to take care of business, and when scandals happen they get ticked off rather quickly and expect the culprits to resign.

THey all end up hanging themselves (figuratively speaking) eventually, because they love the power.

Mar. 17, 2018
09:21 am JST

Protests against Abe and Aso having been going on for some time. It is nice to see them reported on the digital equivalent of first page news. Cronyism is only the tip of all that wrong with Abe and his gang.

Mar. 17, 2018
09:36 am JST

Mar. 17, 2018
09:40 am JST

Below is a part of what an Asahi Shimbun editorial said today. The rot that is Abe is also the rot that is the LDP, which includes the decline of press freedom. Here it is:

Amending the Constitution is not a political priority that should be tackled vigorously now by Diet members, whether they are in the ruling or the opposition camp.

The highest priority facing Japanese lawmakers is cleaning up the mess the nation’s politics and government have been thrown into by the Finance Ministry’s doctoring of official documents concerning the dubious sale of state-owned land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen.

The ministry’s act has violated basic constitutional principles and seriously damaged the foundation of democracy.

The executive branch of the government deceived the legislative arm for more than a year. The Diet’s ability to monitor and check the government was gutted.

The scandal has also blighted the honor and reputation of bureaucrats, who are defined as “servants of the whole community” in the Constitution.

Mar. 17, 2018
10:04 am JST

Japanese people must unite to show there are positive sides of Japan. Dark side force must not scare us any more. Japan can't live in fear forever. Abe must go. LDP must clean up the mess as soon as possible. The opposition parties must take the opportunity to lead.

Mar. 17, 2018
10:37 am JST

Perhaps the reason is due to the obvious lies that neither he nor his wife were involved in this land grab scandal (and al the other pay to play bs).

New to the story? You do know that the school had made Akie the honorary principal, and that there has been contact with the owners and Akie in the past, and it is all well documented.

You do know a guy killed himself because he was ordered to change documents?

I guess you don't know that in just about any Japanese business or in government there is no way in hell that a subordinate is going to take it on themselves to change official documents. No way, never. BUT they will do so if ordered to from above, and the responsibility for "above" here goes all the way to the doors of Aso and Abe.

As he doesn’t work now, he can’t be questioned. Case closed, move on.

Which now makes it easier for the government to call him to give testimony in any Diet meetings.

Mar. 17, 2018
10:44 am JST

YubaruToday 08:44 am JST

The majority of the people in this country support the LDP...

I'm not so sure about that. They may get the most votes and a lot of people who never vote may tacitly approve of them, but in some parts of the country there's just no point in voting - the LDP are going to win anyway. Where I live, the only choice in the last election was between the LDP and Kibo No To, i.e. the pseudo-LDP. Each party also has its safe seats, like Abe's in Yamaguchi or Aso's in Fukuoka, and voting for anyone else there is basically a waste of time.

dcog9065Today 09:09 am JST

The sub 40 approval is very worrying for Abe, and may eventually lead to Aso having to resign if it gets lower, but I doubt it will unless Aso bungles the investigation.

Right, because Aso's handling of the situation has been absolutely faultless so far, hasn't it.

Abe should not resign regardless

No? Abe let his wife get dragged into this mess, either because he was too clueless and gullible to look into what was going on properly because it involved his Nippon Kaigi friends, or because he tacitly approved of it all. So he's either a crook or a moron, and although he owes a lot to his Abe/Kishi family money and connections he couldn't get to be PM if he was completely stupid. I think he'll have to achieve something pretty spectacular to make this go away - not just doing something, but actually getting results, like bringing those abductees back, slashing the deficit in half or getting businesses to raise wages.

econstatsToday 10:15 am JST

Abe's support rate falls to 39% But the Yomiuri poll had him at 48% and NHK had him 44%. The Jiji press is left of center.

Yes, and The Yomiuri and NHK are government mouthpieces. Do you think they're more reliable?

Mar. 17, 2018
10:45 am JST

The bigger scandal is how there is no credible opposition to Jiminto. I mean, it's all well and good opposing Abe, but just who else can form any credible government - and I use credible in the loosest possible terms.

Mar. 17, 2018
11:00 am JST

Mar. 17, 2018
11:46 am JST

Why are there so many wishey washey posts, it's simple. The PM that would be Shinzo either had no idea (not likely) about his wife's connection to a dodgy land deal, that Asos ministry altered the paper work. That people are killing themselves and it appears to be a mystery?. What career beauracract would doctor paperwork without approval. It's a disaster all because a revisionist agenda school was given the green light to open a school that was intentionally brain washing children. The whole thing is pathetic. As are the those creepy old men who gave it the go.

Mar. 17, 2018
11:50 am JST

Mar. 17, 2018
11:57 am JST

Abe should not resign regardless absolutely, when the next election comes around the J people can decide whether they want him or somebody else , that how democracy works, why should he make it easy for the opposition and resign, they cant even get their own shite together and provide candidates that are worth voting for, they'll jump ship at the first sign of party trouble.

Mar. 17, 2018
12:14 pm JST

Mar. 17, 2018
12:26 pm JST

SchopenhauerToday 10:46 am JST

Ideal politician is one who enrich the country and make people's life easy. In that context, Abe is not a bad politician.

Given that he hasn't really enriched the country (helping a bunch of business executives make more money they're not sharing with anyone doesn't count) or made people's life much easier, he's not really a good politician either.

Politicians should not be judged for his morality only.

I like to judge them based on their achievements, and Abe's supporters always seem to be very vague about what he's really achieved. After five years with stable administrations it's not really very good that people aren't much better off than they were when PMs were changing every year.

Mar. 17, 2018
01:30 pm JST

Suga Yoshihide, you're saying you THOUGHT your aide reported the matter about the alterations to Abe the same day on March 6th. When governing a country, you should not have thought that he did it, you should have known that he reported the matter!

You should've reported it to Abe yourself to guarantee the message had arrived. This is a breach of trust and efficiency. Sounds like everyone in the government is involved, and are now trying to blame it on each other. What a total mess!

Mar. 17, 2018
01:38 pm JST

The LDP could run in an election with a face scrawled on a balloon leading the party and still win. and what does that say about the state of the opposition, they won before , they just have to get their shite together again and form a party and run a campaign that can challenge the LDP, if not then looks like ABe is here to stay.

Mar. 17, 2018
02:16 pm JST

HAHAHAHA wheres good ol Kim when you need a distraction?

Unfortunately, even with the gangly duo gone, the rot will still remain. Unless the kaigi's decimated, expect more of the same. Im glad 2000 people went out. Too bad its unlike the Korean model but Ill take it.

Mar. 17, 2018
03:33 pm JST

Mar. 17, 2018
05:25 pm JST

Old News, I'm afraid.

The LDP still have a majority and wont run the risk of another election, so just by removing the head you don't stop the body, in this case.

Also here's a question!

If you get rid of Abe, who will take over and do you honestly believe they will be any better? Less corrupt? More trustworthy? More in line with the people? If you believe that you'll believe anything! Utopia in politics doesn't exist and I wouldn't trust the opposition with a single yen!

The opposition is in such disarray at the moment that any re re-run of an election is going to bear a similar result to the last one. If not worse!